Page 30 of Holiday Hook-Up
Aiden chuckled, “Don’t you think you’re blowing this out of proportion? Yeah, it’s unprofessional but sex between two consenting adults is nothing to be ashamed of. Not like a video leaked of you engaging in some seriously kinky shit.”
I scrubbed my hand over my face. How was this guy my closest confidant? “She’s an employee, you pervy fuck. She’s here on a paid internship for college. I didn’t know at the time.”
“Damn. Respect. Your old ass can still bag college girls.”
“I’m hanging up,” I deadpanned.
“No, I’m kidding, chill out.” He exhaled deeply. “I’ll make some calls. As long as the board doesn’t hear about this we can issue an apology statement and offer some hush money to keep everyone quiet. Might not be a bad idea to get your lawyer on board though.”
“I’ll call him now.” I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my temples.
“What about the girl? Was it a one-time thing?” Aiden, being one of the only people I’ve kept close to me, knew how little I dated. He knew how hard it was for me to connect and be myself with people, women in particular. I hated the pity in his voice. I didn’t know how to answer him. It was too much to explain the craziness of potentially falling for a girl in twenty-four hours. I took the easy route.
“I don’t know. We had fun and she’s great, but I can’t see it going anywhere, not now. It’s all fucked up, Aiden.”
“We’ll get it figured out. Don’t let it ruin your Christmas.” I snickered, the sound feeling like acid in my throat.
After ending the call with Aiden, I called Ralph Chapman and left him a message. He’d be discreet. There was no need to involve the company legal team and get the board involved if I didn’t have to. Maybe it would blow over. By the time people returned to work from their extended holiday, no one would remember that the CEO publicly hooked up with an employee over ten years his junior.
Yeah, right. Who was I kidding? They’d all remember and this would snowball into my worst nightmare. The company that I worked so hard to overhaul after my father died, hiring a board for accountability and acquiring new investors, would fall back into its old habit of covering up scandals.
I didn’t know how long I paced the bedroom, opening messages from employees and colleagues. The consensus was that they were horrified and wanted to know what the hell was going on. I’d done too well of a job in hiring honest, wholesome people.
When I opened the bedroom door, ready to break the news to Emerald, she was gone.
Chapter 13
Emmy
From: [email protected]
Date: Sunday, Dec 25 at 9:05 AM
Subject: Merry Christmas
Hey Girl,
I miss you! I know you’re working through the holiday but I needed to vent. Ugh, I wish you were home. I’m getting ready to head to my parent’s for the rest of the weekend and heaven forbid I act anything less than the perfect mayor’s daughter while I’m there. I know my father’s going to bring up my major again and I can’t deal. Sorry… I’m upset. I think it’s really over between Rex and I. I found out he’s been texting this girl from the bowling alley everyday. I guess it was bound to happen, but I wasn’t ready to admit it.
Anyway… let’s hang out soon. We need to catch up and I PROMISE no more Rex. Just us, ice cream, and cheesy movies.
Love you and Merry Christmas,
Kiya
DeepdownIknewit was too good to be true. That this thing between us was nothing more than a holiday hookup.
After he’d been in the bedroom for over ten minutes, I’d started to worry. We’d had such an amazing morning and had made plans for the day. Something had to be wrong. Then I chided myself, thinking that I was being clingy and overbearing. He was a millionaire CEO, of course he had phone calls to make. Until I heard him through the door. What he’d said about me.
I couldn’t sit there and wait to be rejected. I’d keep a tiny sliver of whatever dignity I had left. Wrapping myself in a throw blanket, I collected my belongings from the living area and quietly slipped out the door. Back in the freezing adjoining room, I dressed, gathered my things and walked to my car as fast as I could without running.
Tears threatened to break loose the entire time, but I refused to cry there. The Ridge had already claimed a part of my heart that I’d never get back. It was left torn apart in suite 306.
As I let my car heat up in the parking lot, I took a minute to check the messages on my phone. If I was honest with myself, I’d wanted to see if Logan texted me. Had he even realized I’d left?
A knot lodged itself in my throat when I saw a message from Darius sent late last night. He really didn’t know when enough was enough. Wiping my damp cheeks with the back of my hand, I opened the message, mentally preparing for what he had to say.
